Ding Jinhao engraving scandal

Ding Jinhao engraving scandal
Traditional Chinese	丁錦昊事件
Simplified Chinese	丁锦昊事件
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dīng Jǐnhào Shìjìan
"Ding Jinhao was here"
Traditional Chinese	丁錦昊到此一游
Simplified Chinese	丁锦昊到此一游
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dīng Jǐnhào Dàocǐ Yìyóu

The Ding Jinhao Vandalism scandal (Chinese: 丁锦昊事件; pinyin: Dīng Jǐnhào Shìjìan), was a scandal revolving around Ding Jinhao (Chinese: 丁锦昊; pinyin: Dīng Jǐnhào), a then 15-year-old Chinese boy who scratched the Chinese characters "Ding Jinhao was here" (Chinese: 丁锦昊到此一游; pinyin: Dīng Jǐnhào Dàocǐ Yìyóu) on an engraving at the Luxor Temple in Egypt.^{[1] [2][3]}

Media response

On May 24, 2013, a verified Weibo user, Mr.Shen, posted a picture of the vandalised engraving with the letters "Ding Jinhao was here" etched in Chinese at the Luxor Temple in Luxor, Egypt. As of May 25, 2013, there have been 11,000 comments and 83,000 reposts on the post.^[4]

On May 25, 2013, a Chinese netizen unearthed personal information pertaining to Ding Jinhao through the Human flesh search engine and posted it to Weibo.^[5] On the same day, the Modern Express reported that Ding's parents publicly apologized on Weibo, and that Ding Jinhao was in tears over the incident.^[6]

On May 26, a website of Ding's elementary school was hacked by vigilante netizens and defaced with a pop-up window on the website mimicking Ding Jinhao's vandalism. Ding Jinhao's engraving at the temple site was removed on the same day.^[7]

Government response

• Hong Lei, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, responded to the scandal by calling on Chinese citizens travelling abroad to comply with local laws and regulations and to behave in a civil manner.^[8]
• The China National Tourism Administration also responded to the incident by posting a reminder on its official site imploring Chinese tourists intending to travel to domestic and overseas destinations to behave in a civil manner, and included a list of tips that would help them to do so.^[9]

Related law

According to the Egyptian Protection of cultural relics law, the posting of advertisements and posters at the heritage, writing, engraving, or smudging of cultural relics at heritage sites is prohibited and punishable by a jail term of three months up to a year in prison, and fine of 100 to 500 Egyptian pounds (US$14–71).^[10]

See also

• Vandalism
• Luxor Temple

References

1. APD News
2. Mingpao
3. Egyptian temple defaced with Chinese characters
4. How to go to Egypt after scandal
5. Chinese tourists express outrage over vandalism scandal
6. Ding's parents apologise publicly
7. Chinese vandalism on engraving in Luxor Temple cleared
8. Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on citizens travelling abroad to comply with local laws and regulations, Sing Pao
10. Protection of cultural relics law of Egypt